according to "politico" house republican leaders recognize president obama holds the high cards and the public is likely to blame republicans if negotiations blow up and the new year begins with a fiscal disaster. the facts didn't stop speaker boehner from claiming the white house is holding up negotiations. >> majority leader and i just had a meeting with the treasury secretary. it was frank, and it was direct. i was hopeful we'd see a specific plan for cutting spending. >> the treasury secretary's proposal seems pretty specific. it even includes $400 billion in specific cuts. but john boehner sees something different. >> we know what the menu is. what we don't know is what the white house is willing to do to get serious about solving our debt crisis. >> so what is this all about? i mean, i guess john boehner has his own definition of specifics. according to the john boehner dictionary, specifics means, having all the attributes john boehner agrees with and nothing he doesn't like. keep in mind, this is the same boehner who said $38 billion in cuts was the largest real dollar spending